By Anna Helhoski | NerdWallet
What does it take to lure folks away from streaming and again into long-vacant movie show seats? It seems bubble-gum pink nostalgia, a number of dozen retail collaborations and omnipresent advertising and marketing will do the trick.
In the opening weekend of “Barbie,” the extremely anticipated movie directed by Greta Gerwig introduced in $162 million. That’s the highest-grossing opening weekend ever for a movie directed by a lady and the twentieth highest-grossing movie opening weekend of all time, in line with Box Office Mojo by IMDB Pro, a web site that tracks field workplace income.
In latest years, the theater-going expertise appeared kaput. Dwindling attendance was largely as a consequence of a mixture of pandemic closures and the proliferation of streaming providers providing extra movie leisure than you might devour in a lifetime. Box workplace declines led to closures: 2,165 screens within the U.S. closed from 2019 to 2022 — about 5.3% — in line with a March report by the Cinema Foundation.
Theaters endeavored to make the movie-going expertise engaging once more by means of renovations and expanded meals and alcohol choices. Still, income remained decrease than earlier than the pandemic: $7.4 billion complete gross in 2022, in contrast with $11.4 billion in 2019, in line with Box Office Mojo.
The dire state of theater attendance is what makes “Barbie” so exceptional. When in contrast with the all-time high opening weekends for summer season films, “Barbie” got here in at No. 10, in line with Box Office Mojo. For context, whereas “Barbie” introduced in $162 million, the highest-grossing opening weekend ever was for “Jurassic World” (2015), with $208.8 million. “Barbie” did outearn franchise follow-ups “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and “Jurassic World Dominion,” in addition to the “Dark Knight” and “Spider-Man” films.
The hype machine fueled Barbie’s success
“Barbie” tells the story of Barbie, performed by Margot Robbie, who lives in Barbie Land with many different Barbies and Kens. An existential disaster leads her and Ken, performed by Ryan Gosling, to journey to the true world in quest of goal.
Unlike the doll’s typical viewers, “Barbie” isn’t meant for babies — and neither is the advertising and marketing. The collaborations for “Barbie” achieved ubiquity within the weeks earlier than the movie’s launch, by means of Barbie attire, Barbie house decor, Barbie pool floats, Barbie candles, Barbie jewellery, Barbie cosmetics, Barbie canine garments, Barbie hair merchandise, Barbie quick meals and way more.
Meanwhile, the celebrities’ public relations tour included Robbie giving a Barbie dream home tour for Architectural Digest journal and re-creating traditional Barbie seems on the purple carpet. Gosling showcased his affection for Ken (dubbed “Kenergy”) in interviews. The remainder of the PR tour was halted by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which has introduced Hollywood productions nearly to a standstill.
The launch of “Barbie” was timed properly for very-online shoppers. The movie’s opening on July 21 landed on the identical day as the discharge of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” — a biographical thriller about J. Robert Oppenheimer’s work on the Manhattan Project that led to the primary nuclear bombs. The weird juxtaposition of the 2 very completely different movies by critically acclaimed administrators shortly led to a social media phenomenon: Barbenheimer.
The Barbenheimer sensation fed movie discourse for months main as much as the movies’ releases, sparking bootleg merchandise and birthing memes mixing the plastic blonde bombshell with Oppenheimer, portrayed within the movie by Cillian Murphy, and a mushroom cloud. A well-liked meme is the true Oppenheimer’s most infamous quote, initially from the Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, “Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” however styled in Barbie typeface and a sizzling pink hue.
The social media fervor challenged moviegoers to see each movies in succession, spurring theaters to market double-feature ticket packages. The theater big AMC reported that 87,000 members of its loyalty program AMC Stubs booked tickets to see each movies on the identical day.
“Oppenheimer” cashed in on Barbenheimer, too, bringing in $80.5 million in its first weekend, in line with Box Office Mojo. It’s the primary time that two films amassed $80 million or extra on the identical opening weekend, and it was the fourth highest-grossing field workplace weekend ever, in line with a number of experiences.
Can ‘Barbie’ success be replicated?
A summer season of blockbusters may remind folks simply what they’re lacking whereas they’re scrolling at house. In addition to “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” the motion film “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part One” was launched on July 12 and set a five-day opening document for the franchise with $80 million.
There are extra upcoming alternatives to attract in audiences: 40% extra broad film releases are anticipated in 2023 in contrast with 2022, in line with the National Cinema Foundation.
It’s doable “Barbie” might begin a development amongst studios to spend massive bucks on advertising and marketing with a view to maintain bringing folks again into theaters. Then once more, a giant funds doesn’t essentially work if the film isn’t in the end well-received. Another Gosling-led movie, “Blade Runner 2049,” which was launched in 2017, had an estimated $130 million advertising and marketing funds however nonetheless flopped on the field workplace.
Mattel is banking on Barbie’s income as a sign that buyers need extra nostalgic toy-related content material. The firm launched a movie division in 2018 and has plans for a complete Mattel cinematic universe, together with a reported 45 movies in improvement based mostly on different traditional toys like American Girl, Polly Pocket, Hot Wheels, Masters of the Universe, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, the cardboard recreation Uno and even the Magic 8 Ball.
Will any of these movies be almost as profitable as “Barbie”? To quote that Magic 8 Ball: Ask once more later.
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Anna Helhoski writes for NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @AnnaHelhoski.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”